Eternal Sisters
by budderhydra
Summary: Two orphans... A fiery catastrophe... two fates forever changed, separated. A songstress... a noblewoman... When they meet, do they rejoin in happiness... or do they tear each other apart?


The ever-flowing rain pattered against the spires of the capitol, coating them in an eternal silvery sheen as the water streaked down the walls and windows before pooling on the square below. Cloaked figures in the shadows of the towering buildings bustled about through the square's market, selling food, toys and other bits and bobs as others milled about the laid out stalls, mostly unbothered by the continuous flow of rain falling onto the tarps and cloaks. In such a crowd, anything can happen, even with the city's sentries littered about watching for trouble, so anyone- say, a small child- could easily slip through and steal something- for example, some bread- without anyone noticing. This could happen, but considering Emily was currently weaving through foot traffic with an enormous loaf in her hands and an angry sentry on her tail, hypotheticals have failed her quite a while ago.

So there she was, her torn cloak hanging limply on her thin frame as she ran through the slippery roads, the angry shouts of the baker she stole from fresh in her mind. "_Parasite!_" He called her before she disappeared into the crowds and he called one of the guards to his aid. "_Dirt-carver dung! Guttersnipe!" _It seemed the longer Emily's life went on, the more those words applied to her. A long time ago, she might have struck someone if they called her these names, whether they had been children or adults, but now, she has begun to accept these terms, these insults, as who she was, what circumstances made her be.

She ducked a grandfather clock being carried between two menderbugs, the four small horns jutting from the top of her head catching the underside it and making her lose her footing for a split second. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a gloved hand coming for her face, which she managed to duck, before continuing to dash away, her thin feet creating large splashes in the puddles lain about the cobblestones with each bounding step.

"Stop! Thief!" The guard chasing her ordered, his nail gleaming wickedly in the glittering light of the lumafly lanterns. Emily, knowing better than to follow an order such as that in this circumstance, ran faster, her heart beating out of her chest and her haul beginning to become damper with each passing second. Many of the people in the market square heard the sentry's shout, and immediately weaved out of the road, not daring to get in the way of a guard on the hunt, but not caring to assist him either.

In a sudden act of fear and foolishness, she turned her head to see how far the guard was from her, just as a regal-looking bug stepped out into the rain from one of the spires, and began walking across the street. Neither her nor the thin oblivious noblebug, who was holding a finely crafted umbrella and another smaller object, and stood barely twice her height, saw the other, and the two of them ended up colliding. The dandy's umbrella fell to the ground, furling and settling on the side of him while the other object fell and shattered, while Emily's hard-gained bounty skidding across the road, the silk paper wrapping the still-warm bread quickly beginning to dissolve in the downpour and puddles.

The heavy steps of the sentry quickly stopped behind the distraught urchin, her terrified eyes turning to see the armored figure smirking as he approached her. "Nowhere to run now, girl." He remarked as he reached for her. She scurried back, her head suddenly lurching forward as the dandy wrapped his fingers around her horns and pushed. "How dare you, you- do you know how much this inkwell cost?" He hissed, making her look at the broken remains of the inkwell, making her cry out in pain from his roughness.

The heavy steps of the sentry slowed, and from the corner of her eye, she saw him. "I'll take it from here, sir. She'll be answering for her crimes." He said in a noticeably nice tone before he sneered and grabbed her shoulder. The noble stood up, unimpressed. "Well, you better! That ink was imported from Pharloom, and I won't be paying for another without recompense!" He complained.

The guard looked at him, confused. "I was chasing her because she stole bread, not because-" The dandy's insulted voice interrupted the sentry's calm explanation. "Oh? Are you telling me _bread_ is more important than this rapscallion _assaulting _me?!" He accused, getting in closer to the guard to confront him more properly, even if the insulted dandy's horn barely managed to make it to eye level for the guard, who looked like he wanted nothing more than to roll his eyes, but couldn't because he was merely a guard and this whiny magnate was a royal.

As the two went back and forth, Emily desperately clawed at the guard's hand around her shoulder, but not able to open his iron grip. Panicking, her eyes desperately scanned her surroundings for a way out, and they landed on the umbrella. An idea formed in her head. In a moment of desperation, she lifted her legs, making the guard lurch forward from her weight. Acting quickly, grabbed the umbrella, and stabbed it into it the guard's face. The tip of it ended up getting his eye, and he howled, dropping her and clutching his face as he recoiled.

Emily scrambled to get on her feet, but she was quickly grabbed again, this time by the dandy, who sneered at her like him touching her was an inconvenience. "Oh, no you do-" The smug taunt of the bug was interrupted by a swift stomp on his feet by Emily. As he let go and started bouncing in agony, she scooped up the partially soggy bread from the puddle it was floating in, and quickly dived into an alleyway, pressing her back against a pile of discarded tablets, holding her haul fearfully as she panted and listened for anyone following her.

Minutes passed. She heard the voice of the guard and the dandy multiple times, and some points she could hear footsteps in the interweaving alleys, but thankfully, no one found her. She continued to wait, tearing her cloak like she did so many times before and wrapping the damp fabric around the bread to hopefully protect it better. But after almost half an hour of waiting, Emily finally sighed, and carefully stepped out of her hiding spot and began to creep her way out of the alleys, and make her way to the tenements. Make her way back home. Make her way back to Mary.

8{}8

Down in the poorer section of The City of Tears, there were the Tenements, a section of the cavern that was prone to flooding due to a disaster that happened only a year ago. Whatever structures that were constructed in it before became increasingly less valuable as time went, and when the menderbugs refused to repair anything there because of the risk, unless it was for an exorbitant price, the structures there were quickly becoming uninhabitable. Well, uninhabitable except for the poor, which could make anything work.

Hidden between two of the dimly lit tenements, was a small alleyway. This alleyway was continuously damp, not that that said much since most everything was damp in the capitol, but this alleyway was especially so, the half-splintered and rotting remains of a grand dresser providing the only shelter from the rain falling from the gutters. This place, sadly enough, was Mary's home. But that was okay because she had her sister with her.

Mary and Emily were not sisters out of birth. No, more out of necessity. Urchins were an uncommon occurrence in the city of tears, but like any city, they existed, and the two of them were two out of hundreds, struggling to survive in a world that overlooked them. While the upper class flaunted the city's wealth with parties and feasts, they eked out survival with what the citizens had lost, donated, discarded, or in the more common circumstance, have had stolen. The two of them made quite the team; Mary was a small girl with a beautiful complexion, so begging was fairly easy for her. Emily, her older sister, while not being any less pretty, had an attitude that made her disagreeable at the best times, but she was fast and creative, so she made a good thief, and in the rare cases where they had geo, she knew where to spend it.

Mary should be in the square, kindly asking for geo or food from any passing bugs while giving them her best "pitiful starving child" face, and she would be too if it weren't for her back.

A few weeks ago, for no reason at all, her shell, in the small of her back and the area just above it, began to ache, it was a dull pain, but a continuous one, and with convincing from her sister, she decided to spend the day in bed. Not that they had a bed, but she knew what she meant.

So there she was, huddled in the dresser as the rain continued to fall. Her torn blanket did little to protect her from the ever-stagnant cold air and downpour, so her thin frame shivered every time a drop landed on her back. The cold water should have made the aching pain lessen, but it only seemed to aggravate it more, the icy dampness making her shell feel like it was weakening. That, combined with the fact that the wood poked at her through the thin sheet that was her blanket, made sleeping almost impossible, so instead of resting, Mary was now just spending the day trying to not focus on her discomfort and failing miserably.

The faint sound of footfalls against the rain-covered cobble took Mary's attention out of her malaise, and toward the road outside of her little alleyway. Thankfully, it wasn't a homeless drunkard or a guard (The former of which happened way too much for their liking.), It was the panting form of her treasured sister, Emily, clutching what she assumed was a sagging loaf of bread.

Emily was slightly taller than Mary, the small horns sprouting cardinally from the top of her triangular head attributed to this fact slightly, but not by much. The marks and red coloration on her shell marked her as someone of relatively high birth, but whoever her parents were either disowned her when she was little or died and left nothing for her (If Emily knew the answer, she never told her.). Emily looked awful and considering the fact she was homeless, that was saying something.

Only when Emily saw that Mary was awake did her haggard eyes slim in happiness, and her shoulders relax. "Hey there Mary. Sleep well?" She inquired in a friendly tone as she shifted into the dresser.

Mary gave her a pained smile. "Nope." She said in an equally upbeat voice. She turned her gaze to the bread, her mouth already beginning to water in anticipation. Before she could even ask for some, Emily tore off the end of the loaf and handed it to her. Mary swiftly leaned forward and snatched it from her hand, and quickly regretted that decision as her back pain flared up, causing her to almost drop the hard-earned morsel if it weren't for Emily's quick reflexes. Emily gave her a narrow glare, and Mary instinctively recoiled as much as her ache would allow. "I'm sorry." She said meekly.

Emily sighed, giving Mary the offending foodstuff in a more careful fashion. "Mary, we talked about moving while you still have… whatever you have."

"I know," Mary responded, nibbling at her bread in shame. It tasted like it too; cold and soggy.

"We don't know what will happen if you aggravate it too much."

"I know."

"Like, for all we know, you could just split in half-"

It was now Mary's turn to give a scathing glare. "Don't even joke about that!" She retorted, causing Emily to flinch. Mary swallowed, tears beginning to well in her eyes. "I… I am afraid, Emily… what if I caught some sort of shell-eating plague, like the people down the street? W-w-what if my shell starts falling off? I can't help you if I look like I'm dying! What if I am dying? I can't-" She swallowed, worry taking hold of her, actual tears beginning to fall from her eyes as she broke down. "I can't even live with you then if you would get sick! The guards would find out, and they would-"

"Hey, hey, hey! Listen to me!" Emily ordered, gripping Mary's face and meeting her gaze with steely determination. "Stop. You are going to be fine, Mary! You are not going to die, and no one is going to take you away from me! Even if you were sick with some shell-eating parasite, I would not care! I will still take care of you!" Emily assured, keeping her tone calm and her grip on her face firm.

Mary sniffled and wiped a stray tear from her face. "You mean it?" She asked, her voice cracking.

Emily nodded frankly. "Of course I do. We're sisters, and sisters look out for each other." She let go of her face, and her expression became a little less serious. "Besides, You becoming a leper would be awful, considering your face is the only reason you're so good at begging." She joked.

Mary pouted. "I thought you were trying to make me feel better." She said.

"I did, but I need to cheer myself up as well, considering what I went through to get this loaf of bread." She deflected mirthfully." Now I am going to eat, and I am not going to converse with you until…" She stopped speaking to tear off a chunk of bread for herself and gestured the chunk to Marissa. "This chunk is completely gone. Now eat your own before something starts growing in it." She said, before beginning to devour the offending piece of bread.

Marissa shrugged, going back to eating her piece in silence. Maybe disagreeable wasn't the best word to describe Emily. No, confusing would fit much better. She and Emily got along, sure, but disagreements did happen. Like the time Emily snuck some of their geo stash and bought a cinnamon roll from the square as a treat for both of them since it was an especially hard week. Emily practically steamed with how mad she became when she found out, calling it wasteful and 'The worst decision you ever made in the history of horrible decisions!', among other things. To say the least, evening meal-time that day was tense, and Mary was miserable. though the next day, Emily did apologize, though, and she did enjoy the Cinnamon bun, even though she tried to hide it at the time. _She's just practical, _May mused. _And even if she seems angry, it's not her. It's everything else. _

Mary turned her gaze to Eliza, watching her hungrily rip apart the bread in her hands like it would slip out of her grasp at any second. Eliza winced mentally, thinking about how well she has it in comparison to her. Mary just had to sleep, while Eliza was scrounging and stealing just so both of them could get by. She was exhausted, and this fact made Mary feel guilty.

Then Mary's eyes widened. She remembered something.

She tapped Eliza's shoulder. "Hey, I have to talk to you about something!" She piped excitedly.

Eliza turned to her, still licking crumbs off her fingers. "Yes, yes? What is it?" She inquired.

Mary beamed. "I have an idea about how we can make more geo."

This got her attention. "Really? How?" She inquired, scooting up closer to Mary's prone form.

Mary was practically shaking. "So, I know you said that I won't lose my shell, but even then- even then!- I can still do this because it doesn't involve how I look!" Mary stopped. "Okay, it might, but that is unlikely, trust me-"

"You're rambling Mary," Eliza interjected.

Mary caught herself. "R-right. Anyways, the idea; What if, while you go and do your job, I go to the square, find a band playing there, and I ask if I can sing for them?"

Eliza's face didn't shift, but Mary didn't care, too caught up in explaining her idea. "I know! It's ingenious! People who play music get loads of geo, and they aren't bothered by the guards because they also enjoy it!"

"Mary…"

"And we could build upon it! If I get enough people to notice me, maybe I can get hired by one of the restaurants in the lower entertainment district! And you could be my manager! You're good with money, and planning, and... everything! You'd be perfect!"

"Mary..."

"And- and maybe we could go beyond restaurants! I could become a renowned songstress, like those in those plays we sneak into, in the entertainment district! I could show you! I have been practicing in the square by myse-"

"Mary!"

Mary's rambling stopped as she was stunned at her sisters' outburst. Emily sighed. "That's not gonna happen." She stated in exhaustion as if it was obvious. Mary felt her tears begin to come back. "But-but Emily-"

"Oh, don't start crying again..." Emily muttered, gently wiping Mary's tears with her blanket. "Just think about it; Were orphans. Gutter-trash. We hardly even classify as a rank in Hallownest's hierarchy." She explained. "Songstresses don't come from the poor..." Dropping the corner of the blanket, she gently nudged Mary's head to look out the largest hole in their ceiling, where the tallest building in the city (In all of the kingdom, some rumored.) could be seen; The Watcher's Tower.

"They come from the rich." Emily finished.

Mary felt a bit of her heart shatter at that, but before she could complain, she felt Emilys' thin, bruised arms wrap around her. "I appreciate that you're trying to think outside the box, and trying to help us... but we have to be realistic." She explained. "Now, if you become a scribe, a laborer, or..." Emily stopped, trying to find another job to list.

"A prostitute?" Mary suggested, which earned her a glare once Emily recoiled. Mary smiled, showing she wasn't serious about that statement. "I get the point. It's very unlikely, just... I can dream, can't I?"

Emily held her gaze for a moment before sighing. "I suppose." She concurred. "Still, we should focus on getting off the streets before we work our way to that." She explained. "I'm pretty sure I am now wanted in the market if I wasn't before."

"Who did you run over this time?" She questioned, smirking.

Emily scowled indignantly. "For the last time, I only fell on that glimback and spooked it, I had no control over what it did after that!" She insisted, before groaning a bit. "No, I just ended up stabbing a Sentry in the eye, and stomping on some royal's foot because he grabbed me." She recounted.

Mary's eyes widened a bit at that. "What happened to make you do that?" She asked worriedly.

Emily brushed the question off with her hand and laid down next to her. "Ugh, Maybe tomorrow. Too tired." She responded bluntly. Mary raised her blanket to wrap her in it as well, but Emily stopped her. "You need it more than I do. I can handle a little rain, don't worry about it." She assured.

Mary nervously looked at her, but nodded, turning over to go to sleep. Just as she closed her eyes, she felt hands wrap around her. "Here, have some warmth. Maybe that will cure you." She heard Emily say mirthfully.

As the two of them lay there, sharing their meager warmth and hearing the satisfying gurgles of their stomachs from their kingly meal, Mary smiled and closed her eyes.

Her back didn't hurt as much.


End file.
